Scientists in Sweden and UK have gained new insights into a technique to reconnect sensory neurons to the spinal cord after traumatic spinal injuries. It involves cutting the original sensory nerve cells out of the root and implanting the remaining root directly into a deeper structure in the spinal cord.
This rea is called the dorsal horn, and it contains secondary sensory neurons that don’t normally directly connect to sensory roots. The team of scientists tried the technique on patients certain spinal reflexes returned, indicating that the implanted neuron had integrated with the spine to form a functional neural circuit.
The researchers hope that this type of neural growth could also be used to repair other types of spinal cord injury.